Professor Brendan Davies

Profile

Our group studies plant development. We began by trying to understand flower development and still work in this area. Studying flower development and meristem function led us to the role of transcription factors, gene regulatory networks and the control of gene expression in developmental processes. This also led to an interest in other forms of gene regulation such as repression, mRNA stability, splicing and control of translation. 

Individual projects are currently underway in the following broad areas:

  • Understanding flower development - the master regulators and their downstream targets.
  • The mechanism of transcriptional repression and its role in plant development and evolution.
  • Control of translation by short conserved upstream open reading frames.
  • Alternative splicing and the effect of temperature.

Plant Science

Research interests

Plant development; regulation of gene expression; transcriptional repression; alternative splicing; translational control; evolution.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://biologicalsciences.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • BSc, London;
  • PhD 1991, CNAA.

Student education

Undergraduate project topics:

  • Plant development using molecular genetics

Postgraduate studentship areas:

  • Genes controlling plant development

See also:

 

Research groups and institutes

  • Plant Science

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>